Night fury
by WanderingSoul96
Summary: When a new monster hunter called Yoru is found wounded by a more experienced hunter, both start a journey to find the monster responsible for this.But an ancient creature awaits them. They will find many hardships as they are tested to face their greatest fear: the Unknown. First fanfiction on the site and english isn t my first language. Reviews are appreciated.
1. Mystery

`` Get out of the way! We need to bring her to a medic now!´´ a man shouted as he crossed the crowd. He adorned a red armor that resembled scales of some kind of dragon, a helm which a visor that was raised so he could see better and a giant greatsword that seemed to be made of the same material as the armor. A Rathalos´ equipment, made of the said wyvern and symbol of skill and pride for the ones who killed the beast. Behind this hunter four walking cats were pushing a wooden cart with a woman on it. She wore a simple armor made iron and connected iron rings without the helm, her short red read was stained with dirty and she looked unconscious. A very deep wound could be seen on the left side of the armor plate, as if a knife or something sharp had penetrated the armor. _``Dam it! How did this happen?!´´_ the hunter thought as he rushed towards the healer of his village.

**(Flashback)**

``Hey Derek! What job you took?´´ a man wearing a purple rubber armor asked coming towards his friend. They were on the tavern of the village, a place where the monster hunters of the village of Kokoto would gather to get new jobs. The village was placed on a group of hills that connected many hunting areas and was a beacon for hunters and people. For the commoners and the villagers, monsters were a menace and wished that they never existed, but for others it was always a challenge, adventure and a form to gain money. Derek was one these hunters, his skills for fighting the Rathalos species earned him the title of "Blazing Fire" as his favorite sword was the flame great sword. However, even his hunting abilities weren´t perfect. Derek had hard time fighting water and dragon monsters since his equipment was unsuitable against these creatures, because of this, he never went past four stars on the hunting rank.

The hunting rank is a system designed to measure the skills of the hunter so the guild masters can give the appropriate jobs. A hunter always started on the first rank, the one star. With this rank, you can do missions involving gathering of materials for the everyday life or hunt minor monsters like the velociprey and bulfango. With two stars, more dangerous monster are available, including the leader of the "prey" species, gathering of ore in dangerous areas like the desert or a fight against your first wyvern, generally the fire spilling Yian kut ku. With four stars, Derek can hunt practically all the wyvern species, be it fire, water, electricity,brute and others and also egg deliveries(which he hated to do).His dream was to one day challenge the legendary Crimson Fatalis, one of the elder dragons. The rank went up to six stars, where you are allowed to hunt the fearsome elder dragons or any creature with a power to challenge these creatures. Of course, each kind of job had a proper reward in the form of money or prize. But for the monster hunters, the items obtained from the creatures were more important than money.

Rick, the rubber armored friend of Derek, had three stars and could only hunt lesser wyverns such as the Gypceros, a purple bird wyvern which the skin was resistant against thunder attacks. Rick and Derek were friendly rivals when both had three stars, challenging each other but also respecting each other victories. When Derek killed his first Rathalos and gained one more star, Rick vowed to reach the same rank. But his abilities weren´t enough against the more dangerous monsters nor his lance and shield could save him when a fast moving monster was around. The only monster he didn´t fought was the weird wyvern Khezu, a placid monster which could create electricity. It was the perfect job for him, his armor was great against the electric attacks and the slow moving monster was an easy target against his lance. Sadly, Rick never found such monster on the missions, it didn´t matter how many months he waited, it was like no one was having trouble with the monster. ``They live on cold caverns, so it is very unlikely that they will cause some trouble since they eat kelbi and little more. I only fought one in all my life´´ Derek told his friend when the rubber hunter asked for his friend.

Back on the tavern, Derek smiled at his friend. ``It is an azure rathalos hunt on the North Jungle. Now it is my chance to upgrade my armor´´ the red hunter said excited while rubbing his hands. An Azure Rathalos was a rathalos that reached middle adulthood, for unexplained reasons his scales turn to an azure color and it is more ferocious than his younger siblings. ``Any Khezu job?´´ Rick asked. ``No, but there is a Purple Gypceros that is stealing food in the Swamp´´ Derek answered but when he saw the sad expression on his friend´s face he put an arm on the rubber knight´s shoulder, ``Look, I know you wish to win that rank, like I want to reach six stars to hunt that Crimson Fatalis. But until then, let´s hunt the most dangerous monsters we are allowed!´´ the red warrior exclaimed and so Rick raised his head and grinned. ``Yeah, you´re right! It is time to see if I can still hunt these coward birds´´ the rubber knight said doing a handshake with his friend.

**(North Jungle)**

Derek swung his sword vertically as the wyvern dived into his direction, the blade connected with the monster´s belly and forced the beast back into the ground. They were in a clearing in the middle of the jungle, with many trunks on the ground and some trees burning because of the battle between hunter and hunted. Derek panted heavily, the azure creature was harder than he thought, smarter and faster. When he rolled to dodge a fireball his opponent would soon follow up with a charge and he noticed that the creatures´s wings and hide were way harder than his younger relative. But the battle was finally over and the hunter could finally collect his prize.

``That was…hard´´ Derek said to himself as he put his greatsword on his back and turned to the immobile body on the ground. ``And to think there is still the Silver Rathalos…I can´t even imagine it´s power´´ he said grabbing a yellow flute from a pouch he always carried. The flute worked as an alarm to call an Aptonoth, an herbivore monster which was often used by hunters and villagers to carry the materials and equipment. These animals, while docile, were strong in their own way but were on the base of the hunting hierarchy. After some minutes the said creature came from the trees with many bags hanging from the sides. Derek smiled to see his aptonoth safe, they were easy prey for the other monster when alone. After some carving(which the hunter took special care to not damage the materials) both hunter and creature went the way back to the camp.

After some minutes of walking a female scream echoed through the trees, ``_Someone needs help!´´ _the hunter thought, ``Stay here!´´ he commanded the aptonoth and rushed to the direction of the sound. ``_Maybe it is a hunter, or even worse! A villager!´´ _he thought sweating, he stopped to catch some breath since he was exhausted after a fight with the Rathalos. ``Dam it! Where is she?!´´ he shouted between gasps. Someone moaned in pain, making the hunter look at the sides with despair. He saw a woman leaning on a tree, her hunting knife and shield on the ground and with her head lowered. ``Hey! Are you okay?!´´ Derek crouched and shook the woman, his eyes widened when he saw a gaping hole on her chest with blood coming from it. Judging by her iron armor and sword she was a one star hunter, probably a newbie. Derek looked at the sides searching for the responsible creature but found no traces of any monster, he turned his attention back to the red haired woman. ``Where are the cats? They should be here by now!´´ the man thought, little did he know that the feline rescue team was knocked out not too far away from their position.

Having no choice, Derek grabbed the huntress´s body in his arms with some difficult and raised from the ground. ``You are heavy!´´ he complained as he run the fastest he could.

**(End of the flashback)**

**(Kokoto Village)**

Shen, the master of the village, watched horrified as the red hunter and the cart approached. ``What happened?!´´ he asked, ``I was doing a job and found her, she needs medical treatment now!´´ Derek said. ``Bring her inside!´´ Shen commanded, the hunter grabbed the woman´s body and went inside the man´s hut. ``Let her here´´ the old man said pointing to a bed at the side of the hut and the hunter complied. ``Hum…that is a nasty wound. Can you tell me how you found she?´´ Shen asked grabbing some herbs that were stored on a cabin. ``Inside the jungle, unconscious by a tree. I believe a horn or fang of some kind is the source of the wound´´ Derek answered looking at the woman, she was pale as the moon and her torso was moving very slow.

``It isn´t a fang, the hole is straight, a fang would cause a slash form´´ the elder said smashing the herbs on a pot and adding water, honey and a blue mushroom. Shen was, at one point of his life, a reputed hunter but when his wife was killed by a monster he fell on depression and quit being a hunter. Because of this, he vowed to save the lives of every hunter he could, he respected them as the defenders of the people and for this he studied medicinal herbs for many years to improve his healing skills.

``Can I do something?´´ Derek asked, ``Grab some fabric and clean water, there are some on that bookcase. You know what to do´´ the elder answered walking towards the bed with a flask filled with a green liquid. He opened the huntress´ mouth with a finger and put the recipient on her lips so the green fluid could flow into her mouth. Meanwhile, Derek cleaned the wound with water and took the opportunity to check it. ``So?´´ the elder asked, ``Three bones were broken and she lost much blood, but fortunately the heart wasn´t stabbed and the lung seems to be fine´´ Derek breath with relief.

``That is good to hear. The potion I gave her should be taking effect right now, but she needs to rest for a while. Now comes the question…´´ Shen said, ``I didn´t see any monster nor any footprint or signal. It seems that the rescue team was killed or didn´t find her. They usually are very wary of the situation´´ the hunter answered the unspoken question. ``But what kind of monster can do this?´´ the elder rubbed his long bear thinking about the situation. ``Something with horns, I guess. I will search on my archives for something like that´´ Derek said. Every hunter knew the importance of knowing the monster´s behavior, habitat and characteristics and so everyone had a book with this kind of information. Some gathered the information themselves while others resorted to general books given by guilds and elders.

``By the way, who is she?´´ the red hunter asked taking off his helmet. ``I believe her name is Yoru, she came to Kokoto yesterday and wanted to be a monster hunter. Today was supposed to be her first mission, mushroom gathering I guess´´ the elder told. ``That explains why I never saw her. Anyway, I should be going´´ Derek said going towards the door but stopped to look back. ``She is very unlucky, isn´t she?´´ he asked, ``She is lucky to have you around to save her. A knight in shining armor I suppose´´ Shen joked, ``Very funny´´ he whispered looking towards the woman, he felt happy that he could save her.


	2. First Hunt

``Hey, what happened back there´´ Rick asked Derek as they walked towards the red hunter´s home. ``I found her after my fight with the Azure Rathalos, Shen says she will be fine. But what bugs me is her wound, it looks like a horn of something stabbed her´´ Derek answered. ``A horn you say? The only creatures that hve horns on that jungle are the kelb and bulfango´´ Rick told. ``It is not a bulfango, the wound is straight´´ the red hunter answered frowning, ``So you are telling me that a kelbi almost killed her?´´ Rick retorted, ``Not even the worst of the hunters could _die_ by the kelbi! I can kill them with my bare hands´´ Derek shouted at his rival. The kelbi were docile creatures with deer like appearance, despite these weak characteristics they were largely hunted by their meat but principally by their horns which were used on powerful potions. Not too far away on an alley, a man wearing a bronze armor grinned before he disappeared on the shadows. ``Calm down!this is the only explanation we have right now´´ the rubber knight waved his hands and Derek sighed.

``Can you do a favor for me?´´ the red hunter asked stopping in front of his wooden home. ``It is about her, isn´t it?´´ the man asked, ``I want you to travel to the jungle and see if there are any clues of what attacked her, I will mark the spot on your map´´ Derek said looking into Rick´s eyes, ``I can do that, but I will need a job to go to that area. I will try to find an easy one´´ Rick answered turning to run towards the tavern but stopped when he heard his friend. ``By the way! How was your fight with your elder rubber brother?´´ the red hunter joked referring to the Purple Gypceros. ``It was more like a blind tag game…that chicken wyvern killed half of the plants of the swamp. But in the end I won!´´ Rick grinned, ``If there is a clumsier monster out there, I will make sure you are the first to fight it´´ Derek smiled as he watched his friend run through the village. ``Now it is time for some research´´ the red hunter entered his house with a sigh, it was going to be a long day.

It was afternoon when Derek finally checked all the notes he had and also the village´s archives. He was walking through the village pondering his findings, ``_There are a couple of monsters with horns, but their habitats are generally the desert or far away from that area…_´´ he though, ``Am I forgetting something?´´ he asked no one in special as he stared at the sunset. ``Derek!´´ a man called the hunter´s attention, he was a villager wearing brown clothes and a gown. ``Shen wants you at his house, he says it concerns you´´ the man explained, ``Fine, thank you´´ the hunter said going towards the village´s master.

When he reached the door he gulped waiting to be good news and then opened it. Inside the old man was at the side of the bed, the huntress was awake and looking at the window, her helm was on a table. ``Hum…? ´´ Shen murmured turning to look at the door, ``I see you are here, I am glad to say she is just fine´´ thee elder smiled. ``Who are you?´´ Yoru, the huntress, asked finally noticing the red hunter. ``My name is Derek, I am the one who brought you here´´ the Rathalos hunter answered taking off his helm to reveal a young face, black hair and a scar covering his right cheek. ``Thank you…´´ she whispered feeling a bit embarrassed. ``It was nothing, you turned my day more interesting´´ he smiled rubbing his head. ``Now, can you tell us what happened?´´ Shen asked, ``Hum…´´ Yoru mumbled looking at the blanket. ``I was gathering mushrooms when…a red eye appeared on the bushes and then…´´ she paused several times trying to remember. Watching the confusion on the huntress´ face an idea came into Derek´s mind. ``You forgot?´´ he asked and she nodded without looking at him. ``Don´t worry, I sent a friend to investigate, he should return in a day or two´´ the red hunter assured. ``Can I go now? I must get the mushrooms…´´ she asked trying to get up but the elder´s hand stopped her. ``You are injured, there is no need to go back´´ Shen said, ``But someone need them!´´ she protested but grabbed her stomach in pain. ``Someone else can do the job´´ Derek told placing a hand on her shoulder and gently pushing her back into the bed. Yoru looked at his eyes with a glare and then turned to face the window with arms crossed, ``Fine´´ she said irritated. ``If any of you need me, I will be on the blacksmith or resting at my home´´ Derek told sighed and went for the exit.

**(In the next day)**

Yoru was healed enough to leave Shen´s care, but the elder prohibited her from doing any jobs for the next two days. The huntress protested at first but agreed after feeling pain again. She wore her armor, the white bandages visible from the hole in her chest, and went to the tavern to eat breakfast. When she opened the door, everyone stopped talking and looked at her, some whispered while others simply stared. ``Here!´´ a familiar voice spoke as a hand waved somewhere in the crowd. Derek was on an empty table with his breakfast, when he saw Yoru he quickly called the huntress.

The newbie sat across the table and put her helm down, ``Feeling better?´´ the red hunter offered a mug of milk and she accepted it. ``I guess so…why is everyone watching us?´´ she whispered furrowing her brow. ``I don´t know, yesterday I have gone to the blacksmith and then straight to my home´´ he took a bite of cheese. However, someone walked straight towards the duo. It was a man wearing a bronze armor without the helm, an iron katana was strapped on his back, the face was plastered with a grin and his grey short hair was spiked. ``So you´re the noob uh?´´ he put a foot on the table and leaned forward, ``What do you want Ignavus?´´ the red hunter asked annoyed, ``You don´t know?! I talking about this woman!´´ the bronze hunter snickered as everyone watched the conversation. ``Who are you calling noob?´´ Yoru stared at the man, ``Forget it´´ Derek put a hand on her shoulder but he didn´t expect what would happen next.

``I heard a kelbi beat you, maybe it was a challenge too big for you!´´ Ignavus laughed and soon the others laughed too. The huntress´ shoulders fell from the embarrassment, they didn´t know what she passed through. Meanwhile, Derek felt like a dagger stabbed his heart, he knew somehow the bronze hunter heard his conversation with Rick earlier and made gossip of it. Ignavus was a six stars hunter, he wore the bronze armor of the elder dragon Kushala Daora, the lord of the storm as a trophy and often bragged about it. Derek doubted he even killed the dragon, since he never wore the helm and the armor had a rusted appearance, but he couldn´t prove it and so had to endure the hunter´s pride.

Yoru raised from the bench, her face covered by the shadow of the helm, and walked towards the exit as the others laughed. ``Oh…don´t you want to know where I heard that?´´ Ignavus teased and the huntress stopped by the door, ``It was your boyfriend who said!´´ he told laughing. Yoru looked back, her eyes beaming into Derek´s soul like a spear. ``How could you…?´´ she said surprised, ``How could you?!´´ she shouted running away. ``Wait!´´ Derek raised from the chair but a comment changed his focus, ``And never come back! We don´t need weak hunters like you!´´ Ignavus mocked but he was the only one to laugh this time. Everyone watched as the red hunter trembled with anger and a few seconds later a fist connected with a jaw. The bronze hunter fell on the ground rubbing his chin as the other man stood with bared teeth, ``You idiot!´´ Derek said running towards the door.

Yoru ran through village leaving a trail of tears behind. She passed through the village´s entrance where two guards stood and went straight to the forest with only her armor, metal shield and hunter´s knife. A few minutes later Derek arrived at the entrance, breathing really hard, ``Did you see a red haired woman?´´ he asked panting, ``She went towards the forest a five minutes earlier´´ one guard told, ``Thank you´´ he rushed hoping the best.

**(Three days later)**

Derek sat on a chair inside his house and threw his helmet at the ground feeling frustrated. ``_Three days of searching and nothing! Where the hell did she go? That forest is dangerous, specially with an unknown creature luring in the shadows!´´ _he thought . Ever since Yoru´s escape from the village the red hunter became more reserved and so no one dared to provoke his ire. Everyone except one, the next day following the huntress´ disappearance Ignavus came and provoked the red hunter, the result was a brawl where Derek emerged victorious. Ever since, the bronze hunter kept distance from the Rathalos hunter and learnt to not talk about the "noob".

``_And where is Rick?! He should be here already´´ _Derek thought starting to worry about his friend when many knocks came from the door. ``It is me!´´ a muffled voice exclaimed from the other side, the red hunter walked towards the door feeling anxious. When he opened the door he found the rubber knight breathing heavily. ``Are you okay? What happened?!´´ Derek asked concerned that something attacked his friend. ``That forest is definitively becoming dangerous*gasp*. I managed to get a mushroom delivery, but a*gasp* Yian Garuga appeared out of nowhere´´ Rick managed to raise his head after some breaths. The Yian Garuga is a distant relative of the weak Yian Kut Ku, however, it was classified as four star monster because of it´s aggressive nature. It was stated that

should a hunter find a monster higher than his/her rank, the hunter must avoid battle at all cost. This was made to ensure the security of less experience hunters and avoid unauthorized attempts to reach a higher rank.

``I managed to escape and continue my search when I found a couple of these´´ Rick opened his hand to reveal a dark spike with dry blood covering good part of it ``I found it some meters away from where you found her. I searched the nearby area and found a couple more on the ground in a straight line´´ the hunter explained while his friend checked the object. ``I never saw a spike like this´´ Derek gasped when he accidentally cut his finger with the sharp part of the weapon. ``It cut through my armor and my finger!´´ the red hunter said amazed and horrified as he watched the blood drip into the ground. ``How did she survive this?!´´ Rick asked but didn´t notice his friend´s dark expression. ``By the way, where is she? She should be fine by now´´ the rubber knight leaned expecting to see the red haired woman inside the room.

``She is gone…´´ the red hunter said, ``Gone? She succumbed to the injury?´´ Rick asked finally noticing his friend dark mood. ``No, it is all my fault´´ Derek bit his lip in anguish, ``Remember our talk some days ago? You joked about the kelbi´´ the red hunter told, ``And?´´ the rubber knight asked. ``Ignavis heard it´´ Derek finished and immediately Rick felt guilty. ``He spread the rumor didn´t he?´´ Rick asked, ``And told I was the one to say it. She fled the village with only her equipment´´ Derek nodded. ``Then we need to search!´´ the rubber knight turned but Derek placed his hand on his friend´s shoulder. ``That was three days ago. I searched the entire jungle, a bit of the desert and even the forest and hill´s area but no signal. I already searched today with no results´´ Derek fell on his chair with a sigh.

**(Forest and Hills)**

Yoru sat on the base of a tree, a small bonfire burned in front of her, a piece of meat was hanging from a stick as it burned. The huntress´ expression was covered by the untamed red hair as she waited the meat. ``_It has been three days…´´ _she looked at the fire with half closed eyes, ``_I still don´t understand. How could he? He saved my life but made gossip of me…That liar! He tricked me! But why?!´´_ she thought. Yoru heard a buzzing sound far away increasing with every second. She raised from the ground grabbing her sword and shield and used the tree as protection against rear attacks. A group of giant wasp like creatures emerged from the bushes from the right, she faced them with her shield up, but then another buzzing came from behind.``Surrounded?´´ she said to herself looking back to find another group of monsters. She counted twenty of them and more could appear at any second.

Vespoids were insect-like creatures that lived in group with a queen, with behavior not too different from the common bees. Hunters detested these monsters, even when alone, because their stings were filled with a paralyzing toxin, causing the hunters to overthrown monster´s eggs during deliveries. Of course, since Yoru isn´t a proper hunter yet, she doesn´t know this.

The right group of vespoids dived at the huntress, she cut the first one easily and used the shield to bash another one on the left but a third one managed to hit her on the right arm. The rest continued forward and gathered with the other group. ``My arm!´´ Yoru felt the toxin spread and turn her arm numb, it took all of her strength and will power to just hold the blade. 18 vespoids dived again, their stings aimed at the huntress like needles ready to subdue an elder dragon. She rolled to the side and cut three bugs as the passed to the other side but then the pain came, it was getting harder to keep holding her sword. ``Darn you! Just because you have numbers and poison!´´ she gritted her teeth as the monster turned to rush again. ``I will kill all of you!´´ she shouted running towards the vespoids.

Yoru managed to slice one more before they separated and started to fly in circles around her. The huntress felt her sword getting heavier, she shook her head trying to keep focus. ``_I hate this, but I have no other choice´´_ Yoru let her shield fall on the ground and grabbed her sword with both hands. A vespoid came and she spun and waved her sword vertically, cutting the bug. Another two came and were killed but then she felt a sting on her leg and with a scream another one was dead. With an arm and a leg numb Yoru was sweating and breathing heavily. ``Ten more…ten more left´´ she whispered to herself as the insects flew around her. She fell on her knees gasping for air, ``No! I must get up!´´ Yoru said determined as she looked up, three more came and she sliced them. She tripped and fell on the ground as one vespoid passed over her head. The huntress spun her body so she could see the monsters and kept her sword close to her belly. Using her body weight Yoru rolled to the side as two vespoids stabbed the ground where she previously was. The huntress took this opportunity to jump and kill them, a third one dived but she crouched and simply raised her sword over her head, the monster killed itself and it´s body parts fell on the ground with a "crack" sound.

Yoru´s poisoned arm fell limp and now she was using only her left hand to hold the sword. ``Four more…´´ she said with an eye closed, her heart was pumping so hard that she doubted if it was going to break her chest. The huntress stabbed through two vespoids, threw herself at another slicing it in the process and fell on the ground. ``Agh!´´ she screamed as pain rushed through her back as the last vespoid hit her. She forced her body to spin so she could see the annoying bug flying closer and closer to her ,it almost looked like the monster was mocking her. ``_I´m not going to die here! Not to this useless bug´´ _she thought gritting her teeth. Yoru closed her eyes gathering all the remaining strength she had in a last effort to grab her sword, the vespoid was getting closer and closer. When she finally felt her fingers around the weapon she opened her eyes and with a war cry slashed the bug.

Yoru felt her consciousness slipping, a strong urge to close her eyes and the world going blurry. ``My first monster hunt… and my last´´ she thought smiling as darkness washed over her mind.


	3. New friend

An owl hooted in the night, a full moon was shinning in the black sky together with dozens of stars and bugs screeched throughout the forest. The body of a red haired huntress laid on the ground, her chest moving up and down. Yoru´s eyes opened and moved from left to right many times before focusing into the green leaves that covered the sky. ``Am I alive?´´ she murmured to herself, every muscle of her body stirred with pain when she tried to move. ``I guess so´´ Yoru said to herself then something in her mind made her look to the side. The meat she was cooking hours ago was completely burnt and the fire had long extinguished but at least the rocks around the bonfire kept the flames away from the trees. ``_No dinner tonight´´ _the huntress sighed, the only option was to wait the pain subside.

A kelbi walked casually through, it sniffed the air a few times detecting a strange aroma. The creature reached the body of the huntress, lowered it´s head and licked her forehead. ``Aahhhh!´´ Yoru shouted frustrated, the monster got scared and ran away. ``It seems I am weak after all…that Igna-I don´t know what- was right. To fight these monsters and end like this… ´´ the girl looked at the stars. ``But I will show them. I will defeat an elder dragon, with this equipment. Someday, even if it takes years, but I surely will´´ she smiled at the moon, ``And when I return to Kokoto, that red hunter will know my true strength. This is my dream, my purpose´´ Yoru closed her eyes and fell asleep.

**(One month later)**

**(Old jungle)**

Yoru jumped into a river with just her sword in hand but the fishes swan away the moment her body touched the water leaving the huntress with just wet armor. She emerged from the water and looked around, no more fishes could be seem. ``If only I had a fishing rod with me…´´ she said swimming towards the shore. ``Oh! Hello there!´´ a raspy voice said when Yoru shook her head to let the water fall down, she turned around but saw no one around. ``Down here´´ the voice said again and the huntress obeyed.

A small bald man, with short white beard, reddish skin carrying a small backpack and using a wooden stick as support was staring at the taller woman with a frown. ``I think you need some tips´´ the elder said looking at the river, ``I just need a fishing rod and I am done´´ Yoru argued, the elder nodded thinking with eyes closed and then looked upwards. ``You are a monster hunter, right?´´ he asked and the woman nodded. ``If you need something but can´t buy it, you create it yourself with the things around you. That´s how you survive in these parts…´´ the elder told, ``Create it myself? With what?´´ she asked the elder, ``Use your head, girl!´´ the elder shouted angry, ``Wood and web, that´s all you need. Now go on and search! I have better things to do!´´ the man walked away, ``Hey! Can you at least tell me your name?!´´ Yoru asked. ``Haikan!´´ the traveler answered without looking back, ``Thanks Haikan!´´ Yoru waved smiling.

**(Three months later)**

**(Old Swamp)**

Inside a wet cave a human figure stood close to the rocky wall, water drops fell on small polls and also on the woman´s head. Yoru had a pickaxe made of stone, wooden stick and liana. Three broken pickaxes laid on the ground at the side of a pile of rocks. ``_I need whetstones and iron ore. All that I got is more rock and this blue shard ´´_the huntress murmured hitting the wall with all her might. A piece of iron fell on the ground and a smile crossed Yoru´s face. ``Here it is´´ she said looking at the wall where a chunk of iron could be seem.

After some mining the woman sat on the ground with a pile of iron shards and the blue shard on her hand. ``What kind of metal is this? Maybe something rare, something worthless…better carry with me´´ she said grabbing a bag made of intertwined vines and placing all the stones on it except for the only whetstone she got. She raised from the ground and went towards the wall where her dull sword and battered shield stood. The huntress threw the bag on the ground and started to rub the whetstone on the blade several times making a raspy noise. ``The blade is getting thin…I need to find a way to combine the iron with it. Maybe with fire…or lava. Yes! If I find a volcanic area I should be able to melt the iron and fix my sword!´´ Yoru thought rubbing the stone one more time. Satisfied with her work she put the stone inside the bag for future uses, she discovered that the stone could be used up to three times before becoming unusable. Most hunters used the stones only one time, because the second time it is less effective and takes more time to sharp the weapon. But to Yoru this was a waste of resources and she didn´t mind taking twice the time if necessary since her tools were scarce.

``Gah! Someone help me!´´ someone shouted, Yoru quickly got up, grabbing her weapons and looking around to search for the source. What she saw could be described as funny, terrible, weird or all the three combined. Haikan was fleeing from an eyeless placid white creature with a larval like head and red mouth. The Khezu made a screeching roar as it chased the man while getting closer and closer. For some reason the elder aimed at an specific wall not too far away from the huntress where a pile of dung emitted a foul stench, the moment he jumped at the pile the monster roared louder and took a few steps back while waving it´s head. ``_It worked!´´ _Haikan celebrated but almost vomited when he smelled the horrible material.

The monster tried to approach the man several times but retreated every time with a loud screech, almost if the fouls smell was repelling it. When Yoru took a step forward it suddenly turned towards the huntress, smelling the air several times before adopting an offensive stance with it´s head lowered. Yoru raised her shield, making a clicking noise, the monster raised it´s head and fired three orbs of blue lighting into the ground. She jumped to the side avoiding the only ball that went on her direction, ``_Lighting? I am so dead´´ _she thought remembering her armor was made of iron.

The Khezu jumped at the huntress but she jumped back and attacked the monster´s neck with the sword but it bounced of the skin as if it was made of iron despite it´s appearance. The monster shook it´s neck to the sides stretching the skin and making I twice the normal size, Yoru was hit on the stomach by the sheer amount of muscles and fell on the ground with a thud. The Khezu sniffed the air again and prepared to launch a big ball of electricity at the woman but she rolled to the side way before the attack had chance to connect. Back on her feet Yoru raised her shield again.

``He is attracted to noises and smells!´´ Haikan shouted from the dung pile, the monster turned at him for one second before turning his attention back to his prey. ``Sound?´´ Yoru murmured grabbing a stone from the ground still looking at her opponent. She threw the rock with all her might to the right, the creature turned it´s head for two seconds before realizing the incoming huntress. Noticing that she wouldn´t make it in time Yoru threw her shield to the left, provoking a very loud noise and distracting the monster again.

``_Maybe the wings´´_ she thought preparing to jump, the sword bounced off again and she lost balance but managed to stand as the Khezu moved around trying to hit her with his small tail. The huntress ducked, ``U_nder the body?´´_ she thought extending her legs the fastest she could and delivering a blow on the belly but it was ineffective. The monster jumped back and prepared to fire more lighting balls, Yoru dodged the first three but then the creature launched a barrage of five spheres, one close to the other. The huntress tried to jump but a sphere hit her legs and she fell on the ground hitting her chin on the hard rock.

Haikan watched hopeless the monster walk towards the girl, he was just an ordinary man without any fighting abilities. Even though he traveled through many dangerous places, he never needed to fight any of these creatures. However, he met several hunters along his journeys and knew that this huntress was a novice judging by her equipment. It was a feat indeed that she has survived this much against such wyvern, but her luck had reached it´s end. The elder saw the huntress´ shield not too far away from the monster but it was suicide to reach it. ``_No matter, she is fighting to save us both and I am here using this dung as cover_´´the man though with a gulp, that foul smell seemed less important at this moment. When he decided to rise from the ground he saw movement on the ground.

Yoru roared in pain as she crawled towards the shield, it felt like several spikes had penetrated her feet and yet she continued to crawl with sword in hand. The monster seemed dizzy with all the screaming, it shook it´s head several times trying to clear it´s senses with little success. ``_Just…a little closer…´´_she thought stretching her arm, the shield just a few inches from her fingers. The Khezu roared angry with the huntress´ screaming and prepared to jump forward. Yoru was almost reaching her object when she heard movement coming from behind, her fingers finally made contact.

The huntress felt the massive weight of the monster on her shield pushing her body more and more into the cave´s ground. Fortunately she managed to grab the shield and turn her body just a few moments before the creature clashed. For some odd reason the monster just jumped at her, his feet landed at the huntress´ side and the stomach barely touched the metal shield. But the moment of relief changed to despair when the monster attacked with it´s head, striking the shield with muscles and teeth.

``You bastard!´´ she shouted hitting the monster´s neck with her sword while blocking with the shield. Yoru focused on one spot of the neck as she hit several and soon blood started to drip from the wound. ``Get off me!´´ she screamed stabbing the injury, the monster roared in pain and backed off with the sword stuck in it´s body. The huntress got on her feet the fastest she could and examined her shield, it was very deformed on the middle and slightly on the borders. The Khezu roared at the woman, but the sound was slightly different, a more reluctant tone. Yoru prepared herself despite the fact her sword was still stuck on the creature´s neck, but then it jumped on the cave´s roof and disappeared in the darkness screaming in agony.

``Get back here with my sword!´´ the huntress screamed but the creature´s noise got weaker until only dripping water could be heard. ``Dam it!´´ she cursed walking from left to right several times. Haikan approached with caution the angry huntress but the dung on his clothes denounced his presence. ``Ugh! Did you throw yourself into a dung pile or something?´´ she grabbed her noise in disgust, ``Pretty much´´ the elder answered getting his backpack from his back and opening it. Haikan soon found what he wanted, a pouch sphere with the word ``deodorant´´ on it, he threw it on the ground producing a light blue smoke around the duo. When it vanished a faint flower smell filled their noses. ``Ah! Much better´´ Haikan said relieved, ``What was that?´´ the huntress asked, ``Deodorant made of a herb and a flower, forgot their names though´´ the elder admitted. ``By the way, thanks for saving me. I own you one´´ he smiled at the taller figure, ``You helped me back on the jungle, I was just returning the favor´´ she smiled but then looked at her shield. ``I was going to a volcano to fix my sword, but it seems I don´t need it anymore. Heck! I don´t even know where I can find a volcano´´ she hit her head with her palm.

``I can help you with that, just wait a second…´´ Haikan told searching his bag, he grabbed a piece of paper with several marks and lines. ``This is a map of the nearby regions, take it´´ he offered the paper, ``I can´t take it, it´s yours´´ Yoru argued. ``Don´t worry, this is my spare one´´ the elder said and she accepted. The huntress examined the paper with interest, there was a small dot on the desert area with the word "heavy sword" on it. ``What is this?´´ she asked showing the map, ``Oh…when I travelled through that area I found a big sword stuck on the ground of a cave, it looked pretty rusted and I couldn´t take it off so I let it alone´´ Haikan answered. ``A sword? That could be useful´´ she said thinking, ``It is very rusted´´ Haikan warned, ``It doesn´t matter, I need a weapon´´ she said going towards her backpack and placing the paper inside.

``You can´t go there! It is filled with genprey, apceros and even a diablos! Why you don´t buy another one from your village?´´ Haikan screamed, Yoru´s face darkened. ``I don´t have a village, or a home for that matter…´´ the huntress bit her lip. `` You can´t stop me, I won´t rest until I kill a dragon´´ she answered.

``Trying to prove something?´´ the man guessed and she nodded. ``Fine, I won´t stop you, this isn´t my problem. But take care of yourself´´ he said walking towards the wall. Some could say that Haikan was selfish, he was always busy with his own problems and cared little for others. However, if you had something he wanted you could exchange with something else. Somehow he also felt obliged to help new hunters, no one knew why, though his patience was very thin and he hated many questions.

``By the way, what you were doing here?´´ Yoru asked, ``Me? I am searching for a rare ore for my collection, a machalite ore´´ he answered staring at the rocks. ``Machalite? How you can tell it from the other regular rocks?´´ she asked raising her brow. ``It´s is a blue shinning rock´´ the elder said without looking back, ``You mean like this one?´´ the huntress asked with the blue stone she got earlier on her hand. Haikan turned, a pleasing smile crossed his lips as if he saw a long lost friend and approached with haste. ``That´s it! Where did you get it?!´´ he asked jumping with joy, Yoru barely contained her laugh.

``I found it while mining for iron ores, I got this a few moments before you came with that white monster´´ the huntress answered handing the stone to the man, he carefully examined the stone, rotating it and knocking the hard surface a few times. ``Oh my! I have been searching this for an entire month! Can I have it?´´ he asked looking upwards, his eyes shone like stars in the clear night. ``Why not? I don´t have a use for this anyway...I am not a person that ask things but…´´ she rubbed her head ashamed, ``…do you have something to keep me cold while I am at the desert? A cloak to cover my head or something?´´ Yoru asked. ``Bah! These things won´t help you! Let me see…´´ Haikan told searching his bag once more, he found three large flasks containing a light blue liquid. ``These are my cold drinks, I created them myself. They are more powerful than the common cold drinks because I used ice crystals. Each should last an entire day so you have three days to grab that rusty sword and get out of that scalding place´´ Haikan handed the potions to the huntress.

``If I can´t change your mind, this is the least I can do. Be warned though…´´ Haikan said, ``The cave you seek is a lot colder than this one and the home of some creatures, though I didn´t see one when I was there. The night on the desert is also cold as the snowy mountains so you have to take shelter at night´´ the elder said. ``Thanks for the help, good luck on your quest´´ Yoru said walking towards the cave´s exit with her bag and smashed shield. ``The same for you, friend´´ the man said smiling.


	4. Blind Rage

**Warning:There is a part which mentions wounds and blood, though they aren´t gruesome nor too much descriptive. So it isn´t enough to be M, but it is a bit more violent than the last chapters. Since this is a Monster Hunter fanfiction, where men fight beasts with swords,lances,etc, it will be common for me to mention wounds(of the monsters) and sometimes injured hunters(though I won´t overdo the description). However, rest assured that I won´t go into detail about the carving process, since it would be M rating.**

**(Kokoto Village)**

Rick was checking the job´s board inside the tavern when suddenly a piece of paper caught his attention:

_``Mission type: Hunt._

_Rank:4 stars._

_Payment:6000 gold and a light crystal._

_Area:Old Swamp._

_Description:I need to gather some lesser ores for my smithy, unfortunately a white wyvern in hindering my job. A bloodied Khezu has made home in the cave where I gather stones and I can´t handle it alone, so please slay the beast and you will be rewarded(...)´´_

``Yahoo!´´ the man jumped in joy with paper the in hand, catching everyone´s attention. ``Gueez…what´s wrong with him?´´ Ignavus mumbled at the other side of the room. ``Don´t tell me, you found it, didn´t you?´´ Derek walked towards the rubber knight with a faint smile on his face. ``After months I finally found a Khezu to kill, now it´s my chance! I have to talk to the old man before someone else does!´´ Rick said and rushed towards the door. ``Well…that´s good news´´ Derek admitted to himself, though he sighed remembering the young huntress he had saved three months ago. ``_I wonder what happened to Yoru…´´_ he thought walking towards the balcony.

After a month searching for the huntress, Rick told his friend that was useless to continue searching and that if he didn´t accomplish any more jobs his reputation would fall and the money he earned would end. After some consideration and a lot of time alone, Derek decided to follow his rival´s suggestions and returned to hunt. He pushed his limits bit by bit every mission, fighting many wyverns and other creatures as he searched on the area. However, he never found anything about the woman and when he contacted nearby villages they said that they never saw a red haired huntress. This didn´t stop his motivation, that was as big as his desire to fight the legendary dragon.

**(Old Jungle)**

Rick kneeled at a cave´s entrance where he saw some footprints, ``_Hum…this is certainly a wyvern, though I never saw a Khezu besides the descriptions of the books_´´ he thought raising from the ground. A very large metal hammer was attached to his back by some ropes, he loosed them and grabbed the giant weapon with both hands as he walked towards the cave entrance. After an exhaustive training Rick managed to finally wield one of the heaviest weapons available for hunters, weighing even more than a common greatsword. The hunter discovered that his main weakness was mobility, the greatshield coupled with the lance was a heavy burden to carry against fast creatures. Now, he could run with the hammer draw but had to take care to not be hit while swinging the massive weapon. He trained every day rolling again and again with the hammer in hand until he could dodge three times straight with easy.

Water drops were the only thing that could be heard inside the rocky formation, water poured in a constantly on the rubber knight´s head as he looked at the sides. Then a larger drop landed on his helm, the hunter touched it with his hand and stared at the liquid. It was thicker than water, viscous like…like…With a grim realization Rick looked upwards as a white figure clashed on the ground.

It was a Khezu, the monster Rick was supposed to hunt and that now was hunting him. The creature had a gash on the ring side of it´s head where a sword was stuck and a bit of blood was coming out. The hunter hit the monster´s head on the left side with a swift movement of the hammer, the creature groaned in pain and walked backwards giving the opportunity for the hunter to recover. He finally noticed the wound in the monster´s head, ``_A hunter´s knife? Someone must have failed… ´´_ he thought sad. Sure, a hunter´s live was extremely dangerous, but that´s why the humans had contracts with the felynes where they would give felvine(the cat´s favorite herb) and one third of the reward(for each rescue) in exchange for first aid to every hunter that fell unconscious. Rick didn´t doubt that a cat was hiding nearby watching his fight ready to call the others should he fail. Of course, that didn´t mean he could be careless against such powerful creature, he could die before the felines have time to attend him.

``Come on eyeless larva! I am not shocked by your trap!´´ the hunter taunted preparing his hammer for a hard strike. Ironically, the monster fired it´s famed electricity ball at the man, the sphere crossed the ground and went straight to the hunter. Rick´s eyes widened in surprise, he rolled out of the way but the attack caught the hammer´s tip, the electricity spread across the weapon and reached the hunter´s body. He grunted injured but soon the pain ceased, his rubber armor absorbed most of the electricity before it could really damage his body. ``Hehehe, now I'm shocked! But that´s not enough!´´ he grinned .

**(Old desert)**

It was dawn in a vast desert plain, a hunter was walking alone, a bag and deformed shield were the only things the figure carried. Some would throw the shield away or don´t even care about what´s inside the self made bag, but not the red huntress. The ores were heavy and the shield of little utility in the current state, but like the first hunters in the world, stones and circles made the path towards civilization and so the huntress thought they would forge her way to greatness. It was her second day on the desert, soon she had to drink the second potion since she drunk the first one on the first day. Yoru thought for many hours when she was suppose to use the first drink to use the potion´s benefit at maximum. Noticing that her armor would get hotter with sunrise she decided to use the first drink when the fire orb appeared on the horizon. To further increase her time, she entered the limits of the desert three hours before dawn and experienced the hard but bearable cold of the desert.

The sphere´s shinning spears of light emerged on the horizon and little by little the ground received the warmth of the fire tyrant, now timid but that soon would become ferocious as a dragon´s fire. Yoru sighed, her time was running out, if she don´t find the sword today her only option is to return to the forest or find another weapon since it took an entire day to reach this point. She drunk one of the cool drinks and checked her map again, now that there is light, and read the annotations. ``According to this, there should be cavern around…Ah!´´ the huntress fell through the sand.

Darkness filled the woman´s head like a silent assassin, her body laid emotionless on a sand covered ground. Her bag´s content was spread across the ground, the last flask broken in the process, the only thing intact were the ores, the map, three green herbs, a blue herb, a piece of clothing and the shield wrapped around the huntress´ arm. Something stirred across the cave´s shadows, another movement from the other side, two more and then a snarl. Yoru´s eyes opened in a flash, her instincts telling she was in danger. She quickly got on her feet, but felt dizzy and fell on her back. Five creatures appeared from the shadows, they looked like the blue velociprey, but had a brown sand scheme to their skin. The middle one was almost twice the size with a crown like bone in the head.

Genprey were close relatives to the velociprey, they had raptor like appearance with fangs that could cut an aptonoth´s skin like butter. Also, the claws were covered with a potent neurotoxin which could paralyze hunters with one or two cuts. The leader, Gendrome, lead the other genpreys to hunt in packs across the desert areas, even an experienced hunter needed to take against these creatures because of their team work and combined attacks.

Yoru bit her lip, her whole body hurt from the fall and she was having a hard time just keeping her eyes open. The gendrome got closer and closer with its pack, the head lowered as it prepared to jump. The huntress tried to get up again but failed, the other genprey walked to the sides, circling her as the leader snarled. ``I defeated your blue brother before! There is no way I will be beaten!´´ she defied the creature standing with her hand on the kneels. ``I will…find the sword…and when I get it…!´´ she looked upwards but stopped talking when she saw the creature jumping. She stepped to the side and hit the back of the drome with the shield with all her strength. The monster turned its head for a bite but the huntress jumped back and then forward hitting the creature´s head. Yoru jumped back to take a breath, the drome shook its head a few times before focusing again, the leader snarled and then charged. Yoru raised her shield to block the attack but the drome jumped to the side and raised its claws to scratch the huntress.

Blood drops fell on the ground, Yoru fell on the ground with a thud as the gendrome roared into the sky. She raised her head to see her enemy, the left eye closed with a scratch running down from the eye to the cheek. Blood ran from her face and her left shoulder. The gendrome continued to roar, mocking its fallen prey and angering even more the huntress. The huntress felt something deep inside her, a feeling she faced only once in her life. Fear of death, when she was attacked at the jungle she felt the same thing, the despair that comes to everyone that see death in the eyes. For some, shame fills their mind while for others life itself appears before them as a thunder´s flash. But Yoru didn´t feel any of these emotions, only one thing filled her mind in that moment, something humans despised because it is what links creatures they hunt and themselves. _**Survival. **_The only thing the huntress wanted to do was to kill that monster, escaping was impossible at that point. She wanted to give the monster the same coin, the same injuries and despair. Anger filled her body, giving her strength beyond any drug or potion available for hunters.

``You…bastard…ugh! I am not dead yet…´´ she murmured crawling towards the creature. ``For my sake, for my honor…I won´t… let you win!´´ a blood tear fell on the ground as pain run through her shoulder as a red river. She gathered all her strength in her left arm and then stroke the monster´s leg with the shield. The gendrome felt the sudden pain and his leg shaking. It looked down to see the huntress hitting the same spot again, making him topple and fall on the ground. Yoru managed to get on her kneels as the monster tried, without success, to raise from the ground. With a dark look on her face she raised her fist high in the sky, this was the last thing the creature saw before everything became darkness. With many shield strikes the monster´s bones were smashed making a "crack" sound with every hit as the creature roared in pain. With one last roar the Gendrome´s body fell limp in the ground.

The roar seemed to catch the pack´s attention, the genprey stopped walking in circles and faced the one who defeated their leader, it almost looked like the boss said ``Kill her´´ to its minions. Yoru raised from the ground holding her shoulder, more blood drops stained the ground as she observed the pack.

A flute blew through the cave, echoing like many war drums in unison. A giant object raised behind the pack and a different note echoed catching the genprey attention and making them turn around. Yoru felt a small burst of strenght and the pain going away(though she was still bleeding), she looked at the source of the sound and her mouth fell in disbelief at what she saw. A hunter wearing plate armor, in the stomach section blue scales added extra protection to the vital organs, orange and sand colored fins could be seem at the shoulders and the top of the helm. He was holding a hammer like object with a hole on the top, he stomped the ground many times as the sound came from the weapon ``Let´s dance!´´ the hunter said as his prey rushed towards him, he smashed the first one with the weapon, spun around so he could get a better grip and then swung the hammer horizontally hitting two more. The last monster jumped at him but he moved the weapon vertically, breaking the creature´s bones and sending it to the side.

Yoru blinked many times, ``_That hunter killed them without any effort´´ _ she though amazed but then fell on her kneels. The pain returned stronger than before, her breathing became heavier and sweet drops joined the bloody ones. The hunter raised the helm´s visor and cleaned his forehand with his free hand, ``Hey! Are you ok?!´´ he left the weapon fall on the ground and rushed to the huntress. ``Who…are you?´´ she asked lifting her head with effort. The man kneeled in front of Yoru and then noticed the gash on the shoulder and the blood coming from the eye. ``You are bleeding!´´ he exclaimed searching a bag on his back where he stocked a potions and a whetstone but when he grabbed a flask with a green substance Yoru´s eyes widened. ``N-No!´´ the red haired huntress clumsy slapped the man´s hand spilling part of the liquid on the ground. ``Let me help you or you won´t make it!´´ the hunter insisted. With a long grunt the huntress stood on her feet and looked at the hunter´s eyes. ``I don´t*cough* need your potions…I have my own herbs…´´ she mumbled stumbling towards her bag. With another grunt she kneeled and grabbed the only blue herb she had and proceeded to chew it. ``An herb won´t close that wound! Let me patch it!´´ the man insisted.

Yoru spitted on her right hand the now chewed herb, she placed it on her left shoulder but screamed when it made contact. Gritting her teeth, the huntress rubbed her blood stained hand through the wound some times and then stopped. The man observed the breathless woman with a mixture of indignation and surprise. ``_She is applying the antidote herb directly at the wound so it won´t get infected! But there is still the wound itself, if she don´t keep it close it will reopen later. I must help her! But she is so stubborn! Maybe if I play my hunting horn…´´ _he thought, ``Don´t touch that hammer! Agh! I know it healed me before!´´ she shouted while chewing green herbs.

The truth was Yoru didn´t want to be saved by another hunter. She didn't want to be dependant of others since that only brought sadness before. How could she tell her dream was to kill a dragon if she wasn´t able to endure a few wounds of a lesser monster? No, she couldn´t do that. To the huntress, to be a monster hunter is to survive using one´s own resources, not a potent potion brought by a fellow friend on the battlefield. This was her dogma, which she adopted from Haikan, to be self sufficient. She finished eating the last herb, gulped and sighed. She still felt a good deal of pain on the shoulder and eye, but it was a bit more tolerable. She glanced at the piece of clothing she brought with her, remembering how she got it.

During her first day in the desert, Yoru found an unoccupied hut with nothing inside but a common bloody knife, it was just an empty circular canvas kept together by three wooden sticks. But the hunter knew better, she used the old knife to cut pieces of the canvas and the sticks. The sticks were used to make a bonfire in the same night and the tissues to wrap the herbs she gathered before in the forest. The huntress kept an extra tissue, larger than the others to wrap herbs and fruits in the future.

The tissue wrapped around her shoulder, Yoru took a breath to regain her strength and then raised from the ground. ``What´s your name?´´ she asked not looking back, ``You need…´´ the man tried to say, ``I don´t need your help! Huh,huh…I asked your name´´ the huntress shouted placing her hand on her wounded eye. ``Elvis´´ the man told crossing his arms, that woman was really stubborn. ``Thanks for the help, I will remember that. Name´s Ruby´´ she lied about her name. The huntress didn´t know if he was a hunter from Kokoto, but even so she decided to not let Derek find her until she killed a dragon. ``What the hell a low rank hunter like you is doing in these parts? I thought only 3 stars up were allowed to venture this far´´ Elvis said suspicious by the fact a one rank hunter was hunting in a desolate area. ``Attacked by the big boss over there´´ she pointed towards the Gendrome´s body, Elvis looked at the corpse without much interest. ``And where´s your weapon? Lost during the battle?´´ the hunter asked. ``I came here to find a new sword, since a vermin stole my last one a week ago´´ she answered. ``So you telling me you fought a Gendrome without a weapon? Hahaha! You gotta be joking me!´´ Elvis laughed but when he looked back at the huntress he noticed she only had a small, half broken shield. ``Wait! Are you serious?!´´ he asked.

Yoru felt pain in her injured eye, there was less blood now that she cleaned it but still hurt. She blinked a few times, then rubbed her eye with her arm and grunted a few times in the process. ``I can´t, I can´t…´´ she murmured staring at her bloody stained arm with eyes widened, she could see only her fist and the ground. ``I ca-I can´t´´ she continued to repeat, leaving Elvis nervous. ``You can´t what?!´´ he asked. ``I can´t see!´´ she turned, only a bit of blood covered her eye, her pupil was white where the drome´s claw hit her before. ``This can´t be! How that lowly beast do this to me?! What I am supposed to do now?´´ she talked alone while grabbing her helm with both hands. ``Let me see it´´ Elvis said walking forward, `` I said I don´t need your help!´´ Yoru argued . ``Maybe I can do something about it!´´ the hunter protested, ``My left eye is already blind! What you can do? Nothing!´´ the huntress turned and started to walk towards her bag. ``Your behavior will end killing you!´´ Elvis warned, ``I don´t care! If I can´t do this alone, I am not worth of returning!´´ she shouted back and then proceeded to walk away with her belongings. _``Not worth of returning? To where?´´ _Elvis thought as the woman disappeared through a tunnel.

The truth was Yoru was still pretty much angry with the fact that someone saved her from certain death once again. It disgusted her, to the point she didn´t even feel the pain on her eye anymore. If someday joked by saying "Blind rage" in that moment, this same person would end like the Gendrome. The only way the huntress found to let her stress out was to focus it into something nearby and sadly Elvis was the only one around. A small part of her was grateful he saved her, but the other still hated the fact she needed help from someone else. The huntress didn´t want to be tricked anymore, not by kind words of a savior she just met. This suspicious, coupled with her desire to be the best, stirred the woman to don´t trust any other hunter.

Then Haikan came to her mind, that "dwarf" was very generous with her, giving a couple of precious tips and resources. He didn´t trick her once, at least until now. She trusted that the map he gave her was correct and that there would be a sword awaiting her, even though it was pretty rusted. ``_A sword is a sword´´_ she thought walking through the tunnel. Soon all turned dark, but the huntress continued without caring, she was used to move through the night and this was no different. ``My shoulder still hurts.I hope I don´t get an infection, dam…Why it had to hit my eye…?´´ she mumbled to herself grabbing the bloody tissue with her hand.

Back at Elvis, the man kneeled to inspect the Gendrome´s body, still not believing the huntress´ claims. He noticed there was no blood except for the bloodied eye of the beast, ``Eye by eye, tooth by tooth I guess…´´ he said to himself and then inspected the rest of the body. ``This femur seems to be in an odd angle…Wait, the bones are broken. Here too, and here and here…The bones pierced the organs creating a severe internal bleeding, woah! This one suffered a lot before its death! But a simple punch can´t do this, no…it is something else but what in the world she used?´´ Elvis spoke analyzing the corpse. The smashed shield came into his mind, ``You got to be kidding me!´´ his eyes widened at the sudden realization.

Despite the menacing appearance, hunting horns also were used to support comrades during jobs. When a hunter "plays" the horn, it produces a sound which affects human organs, making them work faster or better. Some say it affects mind itself, tricking the brain to work harder or to do specific tasks. The effects were diverse and new sounds were discovered from time to time. In some sense, a hunter wielding a hunting horn is very similar to a battlefield medic but at the same time a force to be recognized. These hunters generally are specialized with normal hammers and use the horn´s size to do a similar work. Elvis learned both the offensive and supportive capabilities of the hunting horn, but like any weapon, it had its disadvantages. For instance, the hunter needs several precious seconds to play a sound and is vulnerable meanwhile. Also, because of the sheer size of the weapon, one miss could cost one´s life. That´s why other hunters always have the task to attract the monster´s attention while the "medic" boosts their abilities.

However, few hunters would hunt alone with the hunting horn, using the healing capabilities before the fight and using the weapon like a hammer to finish off the monsters. Elvis was one of these hunters, he studied the anatomy of many monsters to know their weak spots and the resistant ones. Recently he started to search about the human body, he generally didn´t hunt in group, but knew that as a "medic" it is extremely important to treat his comrades. As far as he was concerned he didn´t need anything more, he was skilled in offense, boosts, had a powerful offense, the enemy´s weakness and knew how to heal his friends. The perfect hunter in a sense, at least this is what he thought.

``Well, it looks like my work is done, the genprey and gendrome are dead. I am lucky this wasn´t a promotion hunt or I would have failed. Gueez...I think I own her a part of the reward´´ he sighed rising and grabbing his weapon. Something moved in the shadows, like someone stepping in the sand, ``Who´s there?!´´ he asked, hunting horn in hand. A white cat with brown fur came from behind a group of rocks which were close to the cave´s wall. ``Sorry Miauh! Just doing my job´´ the humanoid cat spoke with arms raised. ``You scared the hell out of me!´´ the man sighed in relief lowering his weapon. ``Now let´s carve some materials´´ Elvis said walking towards the corpses.

Meanwhile, Yoru felt a cold breeze sweep through her body. ``There is an air current from the other side, maybe it is the exit´´ she murmured holding her shoulder. Soon light poured through the tunnel, allowing the huntress to see where she was going. There was another long cave with an opening in the roof. The ground was made of rock with occasional sand on some spots, right under the light a long sword was stuck vertically on the ground. ``There it is!´´ Yoru rejoiced walking faster, the happiness she felt almost nullified the pain on her body. When she reached it she took a look at the sword, the blade was covered with rust and bits of it were missing and the hilt hadn´t protection for the hand. But something caught the huntress´ attention, the sword was three times longer than her last sword, not very dissimilar to the sword Ignavus carried.

``_If I find a way to repair it, it will be a great sword!´´ _she thought already thinking on how to infuse her ores into the blade. ``But first, I must take it´´ she said grabbing the hilt. She forced her body backwards for a few seconds, grunting with the effort and the pain from her wound. ``Uf! Uf! Dam it! It is stuck and this wound isn´t helping either´´ she said gasping. Yoru tried again, this time with even more pressure, ``Get…out!´´ she mumbled with her blind eye closed. Nothing, the sword was still stuck. The huntress sat on the ground, huffing and sweating. ``I can´t believe it, after all this effort, my eyesight and a wound for nothing! Haikan was right, this sword is heavy, though he is much weaker than I. No! I can´t leave this place without a weapon! With this wound and only one eye I will surely be killed. But my last cool drink was cursed, this means I have just today to go back to the forest. What do I do?´´ she asked looking back at the sword.

It was still stuck, but it was slightly pending to the left. Yoru cleaned her right eye, she couldn´t believe her eyes. She raised from the ground with new vigor, though her arm still hurt. Grabbing the hilt with her right hand she felt the sword had loosened, she moved to the left and felt the metal scraping the rock, creating space. ``_This is it!_ ´´ she thought smiling, she moved the hilt to the sides consecutive times. When she felt it had enough space she tightened her grip and pulled the sword. Yoru stood with her arm raised towards the sky with the sword in hand, ``I did it!´´ she shouted. Her happiness, however was short lived. The weight of the weapon pushed the huntress backwards, ``Ah!´´ was the only thing she managed to say before falling on her back. Back with Elvis, the hunter had just finishing carving some materials and putting them on a bag brought by the felyne. ``Meh, I guess it was too heavy for she´´ Elvis snickered looking at the tunnel.

Yoru sat on the ground, the sword laid on the ground. ``No wonder this was stuck, it weights a ton´´ she remarked looking at the weapon. The huntress grabbed the hilt with her right hand and tried to lift the sword but it was too heavy. Then, she raised from the ground and tried again with both hands, with some effort she managed to drag the sword for a few meters without much problem. ``Well, that´s better´´ she said letting the weapon fall on the ground, her shoulder was itching and she felt it becoming hotter and hotter. ``What now? I already used my herbs. Ugh, I better find something to cool it´´ the huntress looked at the sides, she heard water running through the rocks and went to the side of the cave. There was a subterranean lake flowing through the cave and part of it was visible. Yoru kneeled and then touched the water, it was cold. ``_Maybe I can use it to clean my wound, but what if it is salty? It would burn like hell´´_ she thought forming a cup with her hands and then tasting the cold liquid. ``No, it is fine´´ she sighed and then proceeded to undo the node of the fabric.

Meanwhile, two red eyes watched the huntress from the shadows. They stood completely still as Yoru finished cleaning her wound. The red dots disappeared in the darkness when the huntress turned to grab her "new old sword".


	5. Hunting a huntress

**(Kokoto Village-Tavern)**

Derek was drinking a cup of water in a table when he heard the door open. He lazily turned his head towards the door, a hunter wearing a fin adorned armor with a blue patch on the belly. ``One more job done!´´ he said proudly, some smiled, others clapped a bit but most simply turned back to their business. Elvis had returned from his last job in the desert, he had already stocked the materials he carved from the beasts and left the hunting horn at his house. ``Do you mind if I join?´´ the medic hunter asked Derek, the red hunter nodded and then drunk one more drink. ``Hey, are you ok? Did you failed on a job or something?´´ Elvis asked noticing the hunter´s dark expression. ``No…It is just that I lost a friend´´ Derek mumbled tired, ``Oh, sorry about that´´ Elvis answered. ``Oh no, my friend isn´t dead. She just fled, but I know, deep in my heart, that she´s still alive somewhere´´ the red hunter said. ``What´s her name?´´ Elvis asked, ``Yoru´´ Derek answered.

The duo remained silent for a second, both didn´t know what to say. Finally, the silence came to an end when the door opened once again. ``Derek!´´ a male voice called, it was Rick. The rubber knight had his helm on his arm, the hammer on his back and a bloodied knife on the other hand. ``I did it! Now I am 4 stars!´´ the heavily clad man shouted, this time everyone cheered. A smile crossed Derek´s lips, his rival´s achievements somehow were the only things that made him happy in the last three months. Maybe it was because he imagined what kind of life Yoru could have lived and what kind of monster she would fight. A little part of the hunter said she was dead and with each passing day it grew even bigger than before. ``Cool! What monster did you fight?´´ Elvis asked, the rubber man came closer to the table. ``A Khezu, I had all the advantages over it, but I have to say. That vermin has some nasty tricks, almost got me when it jumped from the roof of the cave´´ Rick laughed. ``_Vermin´´_ the word echoed inside Elvi´s mind, why was that word familiar?

``What´s that? Did you had to use your carving knife to stab the Khezu?´´ Derek asked pointing to the blade. ``No, actually I found the beast with it on the neck. I believe some newbie tried to break the rules and kill the Khezu´´ the rubber hunter answered looking at the bloodied knife. ``I wonder if…´´ Derek mumbled, he knew he shouldn´t think too much about the huntress. Elvis glanced at the crude sword, that wasn´t a carving knife, that was a low quality hunter´s knife. ``_I came here to find a new sword, since a vermin stole my last one in the last week´´ _the words filled Elvis´ head and like a thunder ripping through the sky he shouted at the top of his lungs, ``I can´t believe it!´´_, _everyone looked at the "medic" hunter. ``This knife, did you say you got it from a Khezu?!´´ Elvis asked pointing to the weapon, ``Yes, why?´´ Rick asked concerned. ``I think I know who is the owner!´´ he answered.

``Who?´´ the rubber hunter asked, ``In my last job, I hunted a group of genprey commanded by a gendrome. I tracked them into a cave, where I killed the prey. There, I met a wounded huntress´´ Elvis spoke, Derek´s attention was caught in an instant. ``How was she? Did you asked her name? What was her hair color?! ´´ the red hunter asked shaking Elvis, ``Calm down pal, you are going to kill him´´ Rick joked. ``I believe she said her name was Ruby, a very stubborn huntress I would say. Had only a starter´s gear and a battered shield. She said she lost her sword to a vermin, that I believe is the same Khezu you killed, and was searching for another sword´´ Elvis shook his head to regain focus and then looked at the red hunter´s piercing eyes. ``And her hair color?´´ Derek asked, his hopes raising. ``Red ´´ Elvis answered.

``It is she!´´ both rivals shouted together, ``Uh? Do you know her?´´ the man asked, ``Her name is not Ruby, it is Yoru! She is alive!´´ Derek swung his arms in joy, Rick never saw his friend so happy in his life. ``Ah it is your friend, now I see why you are so energetic´´ Elvis giggled. ``But I also have bad news´´ the man narrowed his eyes. ``What?´´ both rivals asked concerned. ``It seems this Yoru fought a Gendrome with just a shield and won´´ Elvis answered, ``What?!´´ Derek and Rick almost broke the table with their weight. ``I couldn´t believe at first, but then I checked the corpse. There were many fractures and the creature´s eye was bleeding. But, she didn´t win without her deal of injuries. She had a gash on her shoulder and I believe also received a cut on the left eye, leaving her blind. I tried to help her but she refused and patched the wounds herself. I am not sure if she got an infection, but she administrated an antidote herb on her wounds, theoretically it should be enough ´´ Elvis called a maid to serve him a drink.

Derek got up from the table, ``Where did you find her?´´ he asked Elvis which stopped drinking and cleaned his mouth with the arm. ``Inside a cave to the east of the Old Desert, but it is too late to go there. We met a day ago and I believe Yoru don´t want to be found´´ he said, ``Why she don´t want to be found?´´ Rick asked. ``She said something about "have to do this alone or I can´t go back". Can you tell me why she left ?´´ Elvis asked. ``Three months ago I found Yoru fatally injured and brought her back to the village, but Rick joked that a Kelbi hit her´´ Derek said sighing. ``I already said sorry´´ his rival argued. ``It doesn´t matter. That guy over there, he spread rumors that Yoru lost to a kelbi´´ Derek pointed towards Ignavus on the other side of the room. ``She blamed me and ran away, for several days I searched to no avail´´ the red hunter said, Elvis felt an urge to go there and beat the bastard of hunter but Rick placed a hand on his shoulder. ``They already fought and my friend won´´ Rick explained. Derek grabbed a map from his pouch and extended it on the table, he proceeded to look at the desert region. ``What are you doing?´´ Rick asked, ``Even though I want to go and search for Yoru, I have to know where she is heading right now´´ Derek answered.

The old jungle was situated to the North of the Village, with the Old Volcano on the tip of the map. The Old Swamp was on the West and the desert further away to the left. The Snowy Mountains, where some speculated lived an elder dragon, was placed on the far South. Another village, Jumbo, was built on the South, closer to the mountains and the sea. Finally, there was an area marked with a dragon head on the far east. To reach there, you had to cross a large lake, a group of very high mountains, followed by an desolated rocky area and then finally the destination: The Dragon Tower. This place, built long ago by man, was now in ruins. It was said to be the house of powerful monsters, and visited by many kinds of dragons and five star wyverns. Even Ignavus, a 6 stars hunter, didn´t dare to go there even with his party of hunters. Only the top hunters, that fought and survived a dragon had the slim chance of surviving that place and still had to have the authorization of Shen, the village´s master. This, coupled with legends and general fear, created a mysterious atmosphere about the place.

``She lost the sword in the swamp and then travelled to the desert. Can you point where you met her?´´ Derek looked at Elvis, ``Here´´ the man answered pointing to a spot. ``It should take almost an entire day to return to the swamp… ´´ Derek was interrupted by Elvis, ``It will take more, she got a sword and I believe it is too heavy for her. Maybe it is a greatsword´´ the medic said. ``With a thing of that size and without training it will take much more time´´ Rick noticed, ``She will get thirsty, where it´s the closest source of water?´´ Derek asked. ``Does she even have a map?´´ Elvis asked.

**(Old desert)**

Yoru let the sword fall on the sand, it was around midday and it was still getting hotter. ``Where in this sand ocean is the oasis?!´´ she said grabbing her map and taking a look at the paper, ``It should be close by now, but I can´t see anything´´ the huntress looked at the horizon with her palm covering her eyes, sweat fell from her face. The cool drink´s effect was almost completely used, only giving a small boost against the heat. Yoru found difficult to carry the sword and resist the heat at the same time, even with all her determination, human body had its own limits and the huntress was no exception. To reduce the temperature, Yoru had taken of her helm and put inside her bag but the rest of her armor was getting warmer, accelerating the dehydration process. At least her shoulder was better, without any signs of necrosis or infection, with time it would eventually close. The huntress put the map on her bag and then grabbed the hilt of the sword, ``Of all places I could get this sword, why on the desert?´´ she bragged dragging the strangely heavy longsword. ``I must…go on…´´ she murmured climbing a large sand dune. When the huntress reached the top, she opened her mouth in awe and let the sword fall.

There was a large pound of water on the desert sand with some trees and moist grass around the borders. Many tents were distributed around the temporary lake, all of them had a strange pattern of red lines and circles going from the bottom to the top. But something was peculiar about the tents, they were too small for a common human to fit, maybe they were Haikan´s people? This isn´t important, there is water to be drunk. Yoru grabbed her sword and then walked down the dune keeping all her efforts in not falling down. What the huntress didn´t see was a thin rope placed in every dune around the oasis, she tripped and slipped. Despite the surprise she didn´t let go the sword, with the extra weigh the descent was a lot more unpleasantly than it should be.

Something covered the huntress´ face from the tyrant of fire. ``Meow! What do we have here?´´ a sweet male voice asked almost in a mocking tone, ``Is she a thief? Meow´´ a younger voice spoke. ``No, meow, these things shine too much´´ the first voice answered poking Yoru´s shoulder with a stick, the huntress shouted in pain, from all the places they could poke, why her injury? She opened her eyes gritting her teeth, killing intent filling her senses. What she saw were demons, with shinning eyes, straight horns, tail and…whiskers? ``She awoke! Run!´´ the younger voice screamed, the rest of the group except one ran the fastest they could from the angry woman. Yoru felt a little dizzy, was she seeing things? That surely looked like a demon when she awoke, but looking again, it looked more like a…cat? Placing her hand over her shoulder, the huntress blinked a few times, she really missed the vision of her left eye. ``Why you!´´ she prepared to launch herself towards the one that poked her when she noticed she was going to attack a grey cat. The cat had a crown made of sticks and a stave also made of wood with a small monster skull on the top. ``Sorry! Meow!´´ the cat said sweating and shaking his arms , ``You activated our trap, meow! We thought you were a thief or a monster, meow!´´ the cat apologized.

Yoru blinked again, this cat was different from the ones she saw on the village. Instead of white fur with a brown patch on the noise and pawns, it had grey fur except for the pawns and feet, which were totally white and green eyes. The huntress looked around, she finally noticed the "trap" the cat was talking and the other cats hiding behind the tents. ``That was…´´ she said and the cats tensed, ``…very creative and efficient´´ she finished looking at the cat she supposed was the leader. The trap also functioned as an alarm, if someone tripped it would make a loud noise, alerting the entire village of cats Her adrenaline down, she felt guilt about the situation. ``Sorry for scaring your entire tribe, I just wanted some water´´ she said looking at the ground. ``It´s okay, meowth! Everyone! Come back here she isn´t a monster, just less furry than us, meow!´´ the leader joked, the others slowly came back. ``My name´s Gray and this is my tribe, meow´´ the cat spoke showing his relatives and friends with open arms. ``I am Yoru´´ she said, talking to a cat was really awkward.

``Can I have some water?´´ the red haired woman asked kneeled, ``Ah, a monster hunter I see. It has been quite some time since last saw one…´´ Gray spoke almost to himself, the other cats seemed quite sad about hearing the words "monster hunter". ``Come with me, I will give you some water´´ the cat gesticulated with his pawn to the red haired woman. Yoru raised and then grabbed the hilt of the sword, the other cats tensed, but this time it was a mix of fear and awe. Gray´s eyes widened when he saw the blade, ``Come human, we need to discuss something, meow…´´ the leader said walking faster to his tent, the biggest of the buildings, almost human sized. Once inside, the huntress noticed that even though it was the leader´s home, it was pretty simple. A brown cloth covered the ground, more clothing acted as a bed and pillow and some minor ornaments were scattered around. The triangle format greatly reduced the space but it was still possible for a human to sit without having to lean forward.

Gray grabbed a wooden jar and poured some water on a handcrafted wooden cup, ``Here´´ he offered the water to Yoru. ``You must be asking why we are different from the others, right?´´ the cat asked, ``Yes´´ the huntress answered returning the cup, the cat poured more water, ``I don´t think you know, but there are two kinds of us, meow. The white ones, Felynes, and the black ones, Melynx, Meow. You hunters would call us a subspecies, since we are half Felyne and half Melynx, hence the grey color´´ he offered more water. ``I see…´´ the woman answered. ``Where did you get that sword?´´ Gray asked glancing at the rusted blade, ``On a cave, why?´´ she said narrowing her eyes, the cat noticed the left one was white. ``Very heavy?´´ the grey cat asked, ``You can say that, but one day I will master it!´´ Yoru said proudly. ``Hard to believe, meow´´ Gray mocked, ``I dragged this sword for an entire day, don´t go saying I can´t do this´´ the huntress retorted. ``No one can master it, the only one who mastered it is dead´´ Gray said looking at the ground.

``Once, we lived with a group of human hunters. They defended us from the big monster and we provided food and home to live. When I was just a kitty there was one human who stood amongst the others, my best friend and our greatest protector. He had defeated many large creatures on his own with this sword, they said no one besides him could use this giant weapon without getting extremely exhausted. But with time, one after another, the hunters were killed in battle against the monsters. There is always someone stronger than you. He was the last hunter alive when I assumed the role of chief, but one day he followed the footprints of an unknown creature and was never seem again. If you found his sword, that means he is dead´´ Grey looked at the huntress.

``What was his name?´´ Yoru asked, ``I can´t remember his real name anymore, he almost never spoke it…But he had a title, and that I will never forget: Night Fury´´ the cat answered looking at the woman. ``Hum…Can I ask something?´´ the huntress asked, ``You already did, but yes you can´´ Gray answered, ``When I master this sword, can I use his title as my own?´´ she asked looking at the sword. ``Humph! IF you manage to do this, like you could´´ the cat snickered, Yoru restrained herself from shouting at the cat. ``I thought you would like to have the sword´´ she said, ``I wish I could. This thing is too big for us to carry around in the desert. I don´t think you noticed, but these tents are temporary. When the water dries, we will move to another place. ´´ Gray answered.

``So…Can I have it?´´ Yoru asked hopeful, `` Do you know how it is to sleep without knowing if someone dear to you is alive or dead?´´ the cat asked. ``Actually, no´´ Yoru said sincerely, ``Don´t you have a family? Friends?´´ Gray asked, ``One friend, but we met twice until now´´ she answered. ``Oh well…About the sword, you can have it. You answered a question that bugged me for years, for that I am grateful´´ Gray searched for something inside a box of leather, Yoru heard him mumbling something until she heard a happy "Meow!".

The chief had grabbed a flask containing a semi-transparent liquid and offered to the huntress, ``I have been guarding this for ages, it is…what you humans call? Cold drink?´´ Gray moved his ears to scare a mosquito. ``A Cool Drink´´ the woman corrected. ``Ah yes, meow! This isn´t going to last as long as it was intended, but it should work for a couple of hours, four or three, if it isn´t rotten´´ the chief said, ``If it isn´t rotten?´´ the huntress asked. ``Meow! Just kidding, can´t I have a joke? Meow!´´ Gray smiled. ``Thank you´´ Yoru bowed and then turned but stopped, ``How can I find you in the future?´´ she asked. ``Good question, meow! There are three temporary lakes that we use along the year, this is one of them. In a few weeks we will move to another one and stay there for some months. Do you have a map?´´ the cat asked, the huntress searched her bag and then opened the map, ``The lakes are these´´ the chief made a small cuts on the paper with his claws. ``Okay then, goodbye´´ Yoru curled the paper and offered her hand, the cat shook it. ``If you manage to use that thing, come back and we will celebrate´´ Gray said. ``I will´´ the huntress smiled.

**(One day later)**

**(Gray´s village)**

Gray was at his tent thinking about the encounter with the huntress, somehow he felt sad for the human. His people lived with hunters for years until their demise, every one of them had a human as a friend and everyone missed their company. Bounds, that was what the humans called, when he was just a kitty he didn´t understand this concept but when the village was saved countless times by not just protectors, but friends, he understood what it meant. That poor huntress, she didn´t know this concept, maybe that´s why she was trying to prove herself, to show her valor to others the only way she knew: Glory in battle. To be the best hunter, to achieve something others couldn´t, to be a role model, be noticed and respected. He could only hope she eventually find new friends…

``Chief! Chief! There is a group of hunters wanting to met meet you!´´ a female cat entered the tent with haste, ``Meow?´´ Gray went outside with his staff. Derek, Rick and Elvis stood with the entire village around them, with their shinning armor they were like guardian angels to the cats. ``Who might be you?´´ Gray asked glancing from a hunter to another. ``My name´s Derek, he´s Rick and he´s Elvis´´ the red hunter introduced the trio. ``We are searching for a woman, did you saw her?´´ Rick asked, Elvis punched his head, ``Really? A woman? Can´t you be more specific or that´s all you can remember about her?´´ the "medic" shouted. At first the group was focused on finding the huntress, but soon the differences between two of the hunters started to come. Rick always made fast conclusions and was prone to be very little specific about things. Elvis, on the other way, liked to take every detail into account, his training on monster anatomy demanded that and he couldn´t give space to flaws and doubts. Derek had only one thing in his mind and for the most part ignored his companions.

``We are searching for a friend of mine. Her name is Yoru, she has red hair, probably is blind of one eye and uses a plain metal armor´´ Derek took of his helm.``Friend you say?´´ Gray rubbed his whiskers, ``Did she got separated from you or something?´´ Gray asked Derek, ``Hey, isn´t weird to talk with a Melynx?´´ Rick murmured to Elvis. ``We aren´t black, we are gray´´ one cat protested, ``And we don´t steal we just trade, Meow! That´s different, meow!´´ another argued. ``Be quiet you two. About Yoru, I sincerely can´t tell if she consider me as a friend anymore´´ Derek sighed, Gray got curious, ``Let´s say she blames me for something I didn´t mean to do and ran away. I need to find her or she will get killed for sure´´ the red hunter looked at the chief. ``Fine, you come with me, but your friends will have to wait outside´´ Gray turned to enter his tent, ``You two, don´t cause any trouble´´ the red hunter commanded before entering the tent.

``Who made him the leader?´´ Elvis asked, ``What´s your rank?´´ Rick asked, ``Three´´ the medic answered. ``I am four, but he is more experienced than me. I guess this makes him the leader, since he is four stars for quite some time´´ the rubber knight spoke. The duo finally noticed the staring cats and sweated with fear, ``This is creepy´´ both said. ``Sorry, meow!´´ the cats said in unison bowing. ``Sir hunter, could I take a look at your hammer? I won´t steal it! Promise, meow!´´ a cat walked towards Elvis, ``Hum…okay then. But take care, this is a hunting horn´´ the hunter put the weapon on the grond, making the cat jump with happiness. ``Meow! Thank you! Meow!´´ the cat said and soon an entire group was around the weapon, inspecting every detail. ``I hope they don´t break it´´ he said to Rick, a cat heard it and then raised its head to look at the man, ``Don´t worry, meow! We already manipulated many weapons, meow!´´ and then the cat returned to inspect. ``Was that supposed to calm me down?´´ the medic sweated while Rick laughed.

``Hey sir, where did you get this armor? I never seem it before, is it from a rare monster?´´ a voice spoke close to Rick he looked at the sides but saw nothing. ``Down here! Meow!´´ the voice spoke again, Rick looked down and finally noticed the small kitty.``No, it is from a Gypceros, a very common one´´ he kneeled, ``Can you tell me about it?´´ the kitty asked. ``Well…it is as tall as that tent, has a rubber tail, wings and a crystal stone on its head that makes a blinding light when…´´ the rubber knight explained to the cat. The feline heard every detail with curiosity, if one asked the humanoid cat about the creature, it would tell with the very same words.

``Sir, here it is´´ a group of five cats raised the hunting horn from the ground and brought to Elvis. ``How can you produce sound with it?´´ a cat asked. ``How you discovered it was a hunting horn and not a hammer?´´ the hunter asked, ``We saw the interior and noticed some odd things, the format and everything. It was made to let an air current pass through. If you don´t blow with your mouth, how you do it?´´ other cat asked. ``Well…I just move it on specific positions´´ Elvis answered feeling quite ashamed, he didn´t really know how it worked, just that worked. Derek exited the tent with his helm on the head, ``We discussed about Yoru and the chief said she was here yesterday and had a map. It is probable that she is heading to the swamp. We still have a chance to find her´´ the red hunter turned to the leader of the cats, ``Thank you for the information, if there is any way to repay you…´´ Derek said, ``Just make sure she is safe, that´s enough´´ Gray waved his pawn. ``Okay, let´s go´´ the red hunter motioned to his friends to follow him, this was going to be a long day.


	6. Mission Complete

Yoru fell on her knees, had reached the frontier of the swamp. The ground was solid, still dry but soon it would become a mess of mud. It was dawn, the sun was setting on the horizon and a cold breeze was flowing through the huntress´ armor. She was lucky, the cool drink the chief cat gave her was enough to reach this place and no monster attacked her on the way. But, for every creature in the world, the night was another world and the swamp was no different. More creatures lurked in the night and without company or good sight it would be hard to detect a monster in the darkness. Right now, however, Yoru was content with what she had achieved and the new possibilities the weapon brought. ``I better find shelter inside a cave, it rains a lot at night…´´ the huntress mumbled stretching her arms and then grabbed the heavy sword again, she would need a pretty good night to regain her strength and relax her muscles. Every fiber of her arms was tired and stirred, yet she had to carry the weapon along for a bit more. Gray was right, anyone would be extremely exhausted just carrying this blade, she had to make several pauses along the way to rest and the fact she had a limited time to reach the swamp made the pauses even more precious.

**(Old Desert)**

Elvis stopped walking and looked back, the sun was setting and the sky was a mixture of red and orange. ``We better make a camp´´ he said to the others, ``Why? There is still light and its colder´´ Rick argued, `` Are you mad?! At night the desert is cold, very VERY COLD´´ the medic answered. ``We can´t stop now, the sword made a clear trail and we might lose it by morning´´ Derek kept walking, forcing the duo to follow. ``How cold it is?´´ Rick asked, ``So cold you need a hot drink to keep yourself warm´´ the other hunter answered. `` Did we bring any?´´ the rubber knight asked, ``I spent mine returning to the village, didn´t have time to buy more. And you?´´ he asked. ``Spent mine on the Old Swamp on the way back´´ Rick answered. Derek stopped walking, he looked at the trail, at the sun and then back at the trail. ``What happened?´´ Rick asked coming closer to his friend, `I am thinking´´ the red hunter answered rubbing his chin. ``What´s the probability that it will rain at the Swanp?´´ Derek asked his companions, ``Very high´´ Rick answered, ``And how do you know this?´´ Elvis asked quite surprised that Rick knew something useful, ``I hunted many Gypceros there, I know how that wet place works´´ the rubber knight answered. ``So she is going to search for a place to stay, right?´´ the red knight asked. ``Yeah, but…´´ Rick stopped, ``But what?´´ Derek insisted. ``_Do I tell him or not? Man! I want to rest but if he finds out I am dead´´_ the rubber knight tensed.

``So…?´´ the leader turned back and crossed his arms, ``To hell with it!´´ Rick rubbed his head in anguish, ``What´s wrong with you?!´´ Elvis shouted startled. The rubber knight groaned and then sighed, ``At night, many fungus create a toxin that if enters in contact with water, creates a poisonous mist. Since the area is already flooded, where is water it is poisonous´´ Rick answered, the medic hunter understood why the man was having a hard time. ``This means that…´´ Derek´s eyes widened, ``I hope she finds a safe place´´ Elvis spoke, ``Or lots and lots of antidote´´ Rick completed.

**(Old Swamp)**

Coughing, coughing and more coughing. When someone says the forest is another world at night, they should exchange the world "forest" with "swamp". Murky, wet and with a fog veil during the day and mostly dry and poisonous during night. What caused such change in this place? This was something the huntress couldn´t answer. It has been three hours since the sun has fully set and half an hour since the rain stopped. The air was humid and so many poison filled fogs sprouted around the place.

Yoru used one of her tatters of clothing and tied it around her head to act as a mask, but this wasn´t the only problem. Visibility was very poor, she could barely see three meters far with the purple mist around her and the poison was slowy entering her mask. To slow down the poisoning process, she took deep breaths and then held the air the most she could before moving into another fog filled area, but sometimes it took several minutes to reach another open area. The huntress had inhaled too much mist by now and the toxin was already taking effect.

Fortunately, the mushrooms that lived around the Swamp produced weak toxins which takes several hours to fully kill a person. On the other side, Yoru had to stay the entire night in this place, meaning that she HAD to find an antidote herb before morning. This meant she had to search the herb and this means going through the poisonous fog several times. Then, she had to search for a dry place, maybe a cave, and finally consume the antidote herb. Even so, thought not know to the huntress, the herb wasn´t mixed with a blue mushroom(a catalyst) so there was a possibility that the herb won´t take effect.``I need to *cough* find that herb *cough*…´´ she said under her "mask".

Meanwhile, the trio of hunters reached the borders of the swamp. They were greeted by a dense fog that stood on their way. ``This is weird´´ Derek said looking at the sides, ``I never saw something like this, even at night´´ Rick rubbed his chin. ``What do we do? We can´t enter the fog without poisoning ourselves´´ Elvis remarked, ``I will go, alone´´ Rick said abruptly making the other hunters turn their attention to the rubber knight. ``You can´t go there, you will die before finding her´´ Derek argued, ``And you don´t even have herbs with you´´ Elvis added. ``It is MY fault she fled the village, it is my responsibility to bring her back´´ the rubber knight answered. ``Will alone won´t save you! It is also …´´ Derek argued but his rival interrupted him, ``Stop blaming yourself!´´ Rick shouted pointing his indicator finger at his friend, ``Besides, it was because of your will alone that we crossed the swamp, the desert and searched the entire jungle for three months! If it isn´t will alone that moved you, what is it?!´´ Rick shouted.

Derek was left speechless, his mouth slightly open. ``But still, you won´t survive the poison´´ Elvis said, Rick turned to the hunter. ``I have been poisoned several times in my life, I kinda of created a little resistance against toxins and that's includes the poisonous mushrooms. With luck, my body will resist several minutes before I get infected and despite the poor visibility, I think I can find my way to an area where I know there are blue herbs´´ the rubber knight explained. ``But still, there must be something we can do´´ Elvis protested since the red hunter was still speechless. ``Do you know a song that boosts resistance against poison?´´ Rick asked, ``Yes, but it is very long and only lasts ten minutes. It just boosts your resistance, it doesn´t mean you are immune ´´ Elvis answered. ``Good enough for me, start playing it´´ the rubber knight smiled under his helm, even though his friend couldn´t see it. ``Are you sure about this?´´ Derek finally spoke, ``Of course I am!´´ Rick moved his arms, warming up as Elvis moved his hunting horn in different positions, playing a bellowing song. ``Elvis, can´t you play the horn while we are inside the swamp?´´ Derek asked, ``Do you really think I will be able to hold this thing upwards for an hour or so?´´ Elvis grunted moving the weapon to a diagonal position. Derek looked at the man, he moved the horn to a new position after a few seconds several, it was clear that even with his strength, Elvis couldn´t do that for extended periods of time(not considering the ill effects of the poison).

``I am finished´´ Elvis said breathing heavily, the hardest wasn´t the song length but the many movements he had to do with the horn. ``Okay, see you later´´ Rick waved as he rushed towards the fog, ``Do came back alive, your fool!´´ Derek shouted as his rival disappeared through the mist. After a few moments of silence a thought crossed Elvis´ mind, ``What we do now?´´ he asked the red hunter. Derek grabbed a whetstone from a pouch attached on his belt and proceeded to sharp his greatsword. ``We wait for their return, we should mount the camp meanwhile´´ the red hunter answered. ``Now that I think about it, Rick was carrying the backpack with the tent´´ Elvis said tense. ``Oh no, that fool! That is what we get when we rush things!´´ Derek looked at purple fog.

**(One hour later)**

Yoru sat on the rocky ground of a cave, she coughed a lot. ``_Why it always have to be a cave?´´_ she thought. An air current came from inside the cave, keeping the poisonous fog outside and since the place was dry no fungus could be found. Her eyes weighed like a Lao Shan Lung and her body tingled in an odd way. ``Maybe just a little rest…´´ she mumbled as she let the sword on the wall and closed her eyes. The huntress felt her body getting hotter, probably because of a fever but she didn´t care about it, she needed rest to continue her journey, after all…

Someone shook her body gently, Yoru mumbled , the same person shook again but this time stronger, no result. ``Wake up!´´ the person shouted, the huntress felt something hit her cheek and she finally opened her eyes. A man wearing a large helm with the visor up greeted her as she became aware of her surroundings. The hunter worn a large purple armor and a hammer and a backpack could be spotted on his back. ``Who are you and why did you hit me?!´´ Yoru shouted feeling a small boost of adrenaline before coughing again. ``Good, you are still alive´´ the man sighed walking back and searching for something on his backpack. Feeling uneasy by the lack of answer, Yoru grabbed the hilt of the sword and used it as support, her eyes were narrowed as she prepared to lift the blade. ``Whoa! I am not a monster, you know?!´´ Rick said tense waving his arms, ``Who are you? Tell me!´´ she insisted. ``Rick! My name is Rick! Can you please let that sword alone?´´ the rubber knight asked, ``Derek sent you to bring me back, didn´t he?!´´ she shouted at the man. ``Well, yeah. He is…´´´Rck stopped when he saw Yoru holding the sword with both hands and pointing at his neck, her hands trembled with effort since the blade was too heavy and her breaths were heavy and irregular. Rick noticed the white eye and wounded shoulder. ``You won´t take me back! No after everything he forced me to do!´´ Yoru shouted but then started coughing, it got worse and she let the sword fall on the ground. Rick watched as the huntress fell on her knees and coughed more.

``I brought antidote herbs. Here, take them´´ Rick said grabbing a bunch from his backpack, he found them after some time searching through the fog and even used a few to test and cure himself. Yoru looked disgusted at the hand, her eyes were weary and tired. ``I refuse your mercy´´ she turned her head to the side. ``Eat them for heaven´s sake! If you don´t, you will die!´´ the rubber knight insisted. ``I don´t care!´´ she answered staring at he man. ``What are trying to accomplish?! If you don´t accept my help you…´´ Rick started, ``…I will never be strong enough to return!´´ Yoru finished. ``What?´´ Rick asked surprised. ``If I return, they will laugh at me! Dam Derek for lying to me!´´ she coughed, ``Dam it all the kelbi in the world!´´ the huntress finished holding her belly.

Rick gasped, is that how she felt towards his friend? All this hatred focused on an innocent? Heavens, why did he had to open his mouth in that fateful day? If he wasn´t out searching in the jungle, he could have stopped the huntress. All this time, while the others lived inside Kokoto, with warm food, bed, home and friends she fought monsters alone, day and night, hunted her own food and resisted until now. All this happened because of a simple commentary and the influence of a bastard 6 star hunter. When he returns to the village, Ignavus will taste his wrath. Noticing the huntress debilitated state, Rick debated on what he would say to make Yoru eat the herbs.

``I am Derek´s friend. At the same day he found you, he sent me to the jungle to investigate what kind of monster attacked you. If you eat the herbs, I will tell what I discovered´´ Rick answered. "_Well…that is a nice argument" _he thought proudly of himself. Yoru blinked many times, she remembered Derek mentioning he sent a friend to investigate, but was he telling the truth at the time? Wasn´t he the one who spread the lies about her near death experience? Rick claims he is his friend , was that true? There is only one way to find out.

``Fine…´´ she said irritated as she grabbed the bunch of blue herbs, ``But if I discover you are lying, I will hunt you down to the ends of the world and tear you limb from limb´´ Yoru stared at Rick with a death glare before munching the herbs. _``She is scary´´_ Rick trembled.


End file.
